Six years ago since we played Gold Coast in their first game up in Brisbane. Flew up from Sydney. Easy win but sat next to Andy Lee by coincidence. Didn't realise it till he asked me who had been subbed off. Had to laugh because it was Shaun Hampson (this was just after the Megan Gale breakup). When I told him he made me laugh by saying something like "Good, I hate that pr#$k". Good man, chatted the rest of the game. He loves his blues.

What a player.
My all time favourite going to the football and watch how he went about it.
The 1 minute 57 second mark and his next moments telling trainers to piss off as there was a ball up in a moment classic Dominator hunger for the contest.

Houligate has provided me with another reason to walk down memory lane.

The Richmond/Carlton rivalry stretches back to the 1967 Second Semi Final and it started off on the wrong foot. The two teams had been struggling for a number of years and were experiencing premiership droughts. Carlton had not won a flag since 1947 and Richmond's last win was in 1943. Richmond defeated Carlton comfortably in this play off for the ground final and a fortnight later won the GF by defeating Geelong. The Richmond ruckman, Neville Crowe was a stalwart who had played through the tough times. He was missing on GF day because he been suspended for striking John Nicholls. As a result he missed his only opportunity to be a premiership player. The Tigers accused Big Nick of doing a 'Clayton Oliver' which resulted in Crowe's suspension. My recollection is that Crowe slapped Nicholls and he played it up for a free kick. Tommy Hafey, 4 decades later, was still using it as a primary reason for the rivalry (and dislike) between the two teams.

The 1973 GF was the pinnacle (nadir?) of this rivalry. Carlton players hit the deck regularly in the first half without report. Geoff Southby was a sensational player but Balme's hit reduced him to a mere mortal rather than the player he was destined to become before that hit. Big Nick crashed to the earth concussed courtesy of a Fowler shirtfront and Swan McKay had his jaw broken as well. The amazing fact is that neither Balme nor Fowler were reported for their blatant actions. Ian Robinson was the umpire on that day and I think he deliberately ignored the carnage.

In 1974 Carlton and Richmond were involved in another clash filled with controversy. It was a round 3 game played at Princes Park and the Tigers won the game easily. It was a torrid affair and a couple of Richmond legends were reported. Royce Hart copped a two week suspension for striking Vin Waite (no doubt provocation). The other report was Francis Bourke for kicking Robert Walls. The incident occurred at the Heatley Stand end of the ground. Kicking an opponent was, and still is, the worst action one can engage in while playing footy. The frenzy it created before the Tribunal hearing was unprecedented. I have no doubt that Bourke kicked at Walls on that day. I was in the Heatley Stand and the action was about 30 metres away. Walls was on all fours and Bourke kicked back like a shitty workhorse. St Francis turned up to the hearing looking like a victim. I'm St Francis, one of the fairest players of all time and I didn't kick Robert Walls. Houlilike, Bourke turned up with character witnesses including a catholic priest. He got off because of his reputation much like Houli's hit entitled him to special treatment in terms of the length of sentence.

So fast forward to last Sunday and history repeats itself. **** I hate Richmond. ******* campaigners.

Ian Robinson was the umpire on that day and I think he deliberately ignored the carnage.

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That was the dude that was so happy to take ball off Fitzpatrick in 1981 for time wasting which was rarely enforced in such circumstances and we lost narrowly. Never forgotten his name as an umpire as a result.
Never knew he was around in 1973 up to no good too.

That was the dude that was so happy to take ball off Fitzpatrick in 1981 for time wasting which was rarely enforced in such circumstances and we lost narrowly. Never forgotten his name as an umpire as a result.Never knew he was around in 1973 up to not good too.

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Oh yes, as RMH rightly indication, Robinson turned a blind eye to the thuggish behaviour perpetrated by some Richmond players that day. I would really like to hear how he justifies not reporting the perpetrators.

He also broke David McKay's jaw during the 2nd quarter of the 1972 grand final. People forget that one because it was not captured on camera, McKay played out the rest of the game and we won the game.

Despite his pain McKay took a magnificent high mark during the 3rd quarter. Later in that quarter when McKay took an uncontested mark Sheedy ran in and hit McKay in the face.

McKay once mentioned that when the game finished he was in so much pain that he did not stay for the premiership cup presentation and drove straight to the hospital.

Balme was reported for this act by the goal umpire who ran about 30 metres out from the goals to book him. A better effort than umpire Robinson a year later.

Balme was suspended for 2 matches.

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Not sure how or why but I was in the rooms straight after the siren in 1972. I remember Big Nick was absolutely fuming as someone had pinched something out of his bag (its all a bit hazy) Swan Mckay was the bloke who had got us in via a friend and said hello. I have a vague memory of him being crook at the time.

What a player.
My all time favourite going to the football and watch how he went about it.
The 1 minute 57 second mark and his next moments telling trainers to piss off as there was a ball up in a moment classic Dominator hunger for the contest.

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In 1986 we were on our footy trip in Launceston after winning the grand final by 132 points. We had a heap of Carlton supporters in our team. We were out at the casino getting stuck into it and a couple of blokes sidled up to me and said "we heard that you guys won the flag by 22 goals that's a fair effort". Took a while to realize that it was Wayne Johnson and David Rhys-Jones. The boys had seen them and got them to come over and have a chat. Had a couple of beers with them, they were supposed to be over in Japan playing an exhibition game but had bailed out and headed to Tassie instead. They reckon that John Elliott was fuming with them for not going (exhibition game crowd was 25,000). True story, great night.

I conducted the eulogy at my sister's funeral yesterday. The Carlton Football Club is close to the heart in our family. I thought you might like to read what I said about the Mighty Blues. I could have waxed lyrical for hours but I chose these words.

"Kathy loved the Carlton Football Club. We didn't have a choice. Mum decided around 1964 that a Saturday afternoon at the footy was good recreation. I was 7 at the time, Kathy 12 and Louis 14. What a time to hitch a ride. We were privileged to witness three decades of success. 8 premierships came our way in that time. Legends of the game represented the Mighty Blues. John Nicholls, Alex Jesaulenko, Bruce Doull, Stephen Kernahan and Stephen Silvagni were just the tip of the iceberg.

The first premiership was 1968. We always had tickets to the finals games. Mum organised the family with military precision. Queuing for tickets was an art form that required days and days of sustained, disciplined efforts. The last year that mum organised us was 1987. We were all over the MCG that day. I sat down at ground level on the hottest grand final day ever recorded. I had a front row seat to Carlton's 15th premiership.

The 1995 premiership was a bitter sweet moment for me. I couldn't get a ticket for Kathy and I was lucky to get one for myself. I had a standing room ticket but I was happy to get into the game and watch us beat the hapless Cats by 10 goals.

After the post match celebrations I headed home. Immediately my thoughts turned to Kathy who hadn't been at the game. I dropped in and saw her on the way home. What a magical moment! I pulled into the drive and got out of the car. Before I got to the front door Kathy had burst through it and we were both shouting at each other "we've won, we've won!" I put a bear hug on Kathy and picked her up. We danced around like a honeymoon couple on drugs.

The happiest times of our life together were our football memories.

We will now play her favourite song. You can hum it if you know the tune or sing if you know the words."

Paul Roos told a slightly amusing story today on Triple M.
Could Andrew Jarman have been a Blue? I apologise if this is common knowledge.

Roos was rooming with Jarman during an International Rules tour. When they were fast asleep in the middle of the night in Ireland, the phone rang, and Roos answered it. It was a Carlton official (he can't remember who) wanting to speak to Andrew, so Paul woke him up and gave him the phone.

It was quiet enough for Roos to just hear the Carlton guy's voice as he yapped away, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. After some time, Roos opened eyes and saw that Jarman had gone back to sleep with the Carlton guy still talking, so he (Roos) hung up the phone and went back to sleep.

That was pretty much all he said, but he intimated that the guy was trying to poach him

My mum passed away in 1992. We still have some of her personal items and I was looking through them last Friday. When I get around to it I'll post some of the letters, cards and photos. I love them and I'm sure the fans of this thread will enjoy the posts. A little bit of a teaser. I'll add an explanation if I can provide one.

* A letter from Mal Brown when he was playing for the East Perth Football Club.

* A letter from Ron Barassi when he was coach of the North Melbourne Football Club.

* A letter from the Late Bert Deacon when he was Secretary of the Carlton Football Club.

* A card signed by Stephen Gough when he occupied a similar position with the Carlton Football Club.

* A photo of my mum with the 1964 Brownlow Medallist Gordon Collis

* And finally a thank you card from John Lloyd after my mum visited him and his family in Edinburgh, Scotland.

I conducted the eulogy at my sister's funeral yesterday. The Carlton Football Club is close to the heart in our family. I thought you might like to read what I said about the Mighty Blues. I could have waxed lyrical for hours but I chose these words.

"Kathy loved the Carlton Football Club. We didn't have a choice. Mum decided around 1964 that a Saturday afternoon at the footy was good recreation. I was 7 at the time, Kathy 12 and Louis 14. What a time to hitch a ride. We were privileged to witness three decades of success. 8 premierships came our way in that time. Legends of the game represented the Mighty Blues. John Nicholls, Alex Jesaulenko, Bruce Doull, Stephen Kernahan and Stephen Silvagni were just the tip of the iceberg.

The first premiership was 1968. We always had tickets to the finals games. Mum organised the family with military precision. Queuing for tickets was an art form that required days and days of sustained, disciplined efforts. The last year that mum organised us was 1987. We were all over the MCG that day. I sat down at ground level on the hottest grand final day ever recorded. I had a front row seat to Carlton's 15th premiership.

The 1995 premiership was a bitter sweet moment for me. I couldn't get a ticket for Kathy and I was lucky to get one for myself. I had a standing room ticket but I was happy to get into the game and watch us beat the hapless Cats by 10 goals.

After the post match celebrations I headed home. Immediately my thoughts turned to Kathy who hadn't been at the game. I dropped in and saw her on the way home. What a magical moment! I pulled into the drive and got out of the car. Before I got to the front door Kathy had burst through it and we were both shouting at each other "we've won, we've won!" I put a bear hug on Kathy and picked her up. We danced around like a honeymoon couple on drugs.

The happiest times of our life together were our football memories.

We will now play her favourite song. You can hum it if you know the tune or sing if you know the words."

I conducted the eulogy at my sister's funeral yesterday. The Carlton Football Club is close to the heart in our family. I thought you might like to read what I said about the Mighty Blues. I could have waxed lyrical for hours but I chose these words.

"Kathy loved the Carlton Football Club. We didn't have a choice. Mum decided around 1964 that a Saturday afternoon at the footy was good recreation. I was 7 at the time, Kathy 12 and Louis 14. What a time to hitch a ride. We were privileged to witness three decades of success. 8 premierships came our way in that time. Legends of the game represented the Mighty Blues. John Nicholls, Alex Jesaulenko, Bruce Doull, Stephen Kernahan and Stephen Silvagni were just the tip of the iceberg.

The first premiership was 1968. We always had tickets to the finals games. Mum organised the family with military precision. Queuing for tickets was an art form that required days and days of sustained, disciplined efforts. The last year that mum organised us was 1987. We were all over the MCG that day. I sat down at ground level on the hottest grand final day ever recorded. I had a front row seat to Carlton's 15th premiership.

The 1995 premiership was a bitter sweet moment for me. I couldn't get a ticket for Kathy and I was lucky to get one for myself. I had a standing room ticket but I was happy to get into the game and watch us beat the hapless Cats by 10 goals.

After the post match celebrations I headed home. Immediately my thoughts turned to Kathy who hadn't been at the game. I dropped in and saw her on the way home. What a magical moment! I pulled into the drive and got out of the car. Before I got to the front door Kathy had burst through it and we were both shouting at each other "we've won, we've won!" I put a bear hug on Kathy and picked her up. We danced around like a honeymoon couple on drugs.

The happiest times of our life together were our football memories.

We will now play her favourite song. You can hum it if you know the tune or sing if you know the words."

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Bloody good stuff Robbo, so sorry to hear of the passing of your sister but so pleased you got to share these great times and that they are memories that will live with you forever. RIP.